~Twisted Thursday - 3.31.2011~

So here's what to do...

It's YOUR turn to share one of your favorite recipes! Leave the title of the recipe - along with your blog's name, if you want and the website url.

You can also grab a button for your blog from the right hand side --->

Last week, I had the most sharing yet! YAY! I hope it picks up from here on out.

Menu Plan Monday - Mar. 28, 2011

I am so excited for this week's menu! And I nearly started singing "Party in My Tummy" - what a mom moment!

Make sure you go link up at orgjunkie.com/

Tuesday, Mar. 29

• Caramel Biscuit Bites
• Chicken nuggets and fries
• Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Wednesday, Mar. 30

• Glazed Raisin-Cinnamon Biscuits
• Grilled cheese and veggies to dip
• Ultimate Tatortot Casserole

Thursday, Mar. 31

• Cereal
• Homemade bagel bites
• Leftovers

Friday, April 1

• Caramel Pull Aparts
• Rice and yogurt
• Freezer meal: Chicken & Pepper Pasta Bake

Saturday, April 2

• Donut Muffins
• Leftovers
• Creamy Chicken Pockets with broccoli

Sunday, April 3

• Poptarts
• Waffles
• Spaghetti with Slow-Simmered Spaghetti Sauce, Rhodes Buttery Breadsticks and green beans

Monday, April 4

• EZ Doughnuts
• Mac'n'Cheese with tuna
• Leftovers

Extras: Chunky Brownie Cookies, Hostess Cupcake Cake, Homemade Mozzarella Sticks and Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

My goal this week is to make EVERY breakfast item on my list because I always cop out in the mornings. I'm definitely not a morning person. :/

**Sunday Social - 3.27.2011**

I hope that everyone has a great week. It's still a little slow on Fantastical because I am still sick. I've heard this is called a spring cold. I would like to know where the spring part is - it's 27 up here in New York. That is much too cold for almost April! So if you are in the sunny, warm south...please, let me live vicariously through you!

Later today, I hope to share two recipes: Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts and Chicken Rolls. I'll add links when I actually do get them up. Also, bare with me as I mess around with the appearance of the blog. I learned how to make a header, but I'm still fine-tuning all of that yet.

Some great recipes I've tried this week:

• Skillet Taco Macaroni - I think this may be the first thing that I make for my husband when he gets home for R&R. It was filling and a good kick from the Rotel and it was cheesy!
• Good Ole Sweet Tea - A family recipe that is too good not to try. I drink it warm because I'm a weirdo.
• Elbow Macaroni - something different to try for lunch instead of macaroni and cheese!

This week was too good of a week in the blogworld! I think this may be my longest list so far:

• Cherry Cheesecake in a Jar from Jamie Cooks It Up! - They look so delicious! And like the perfect thing to bring to a party.
• Old Fashioned Yellow Cake from Sing For Your Supper - I've recently begun to adore yellow cake.
• Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies from Annie's Eats - Yummy! Strawberry and pineapple are such a delicious combination!
• Tiramisu Cupcakes from Brown Eyed Baker - I am a huge fan of tiramisu and these look too good to be true.
• Chocolate Donuts from Alli 'N Son - I can't wait to try these!
• Saltine Cracker Toffee from The Girl Who Ate Everything - I almost had a heart attack when I saw this recipe, we used to make these at summer camp every year and I had completely forgotten about them!!
• Homemade Hostess Cupcake Cake Balls from SugarDerby - *drool* I'm a girl who loves her some Hostess cupcakes.
• BBQ Country Style Ribs from Mommy Hates Cooking - Had to get a main dish meal in there somewhere in all the sweets :)

Make sure you check out these recipes and the blogs themselves! Have a great week!!

Elbow Spaghetti

My kids are a bit "by the book" - they love mac'n'cheese. I feel guilty as a mom feeding them processed crap from a box, but when I make it from scratch, it's always missing that delicious processed cheese taste. So sometimes for lunch, I make them what I call elbow spaghetti. My kids love spaghetti.

~Twisted Thursday - 3.24.2011~

It's Twisted Thursday :]

So here's what to do...

It's YOUR turn to share one of your favorite recipes! Leave the title of the recipe - along with your blog's name, if you want and the website url.

You can also grab a button for your blog from the right hand side --->

Good Ole Sweet Tea

I don't like sweet tea....well, I don't like COLD sweet tea.

That probably makes me a freak of nature, right? My stepdad makes some KILLER sweet tea. My husband doubted that killer sweet tea recipe until I made it and he tried it. Have you all ever had Mayfield sweet tea? That's my husband's favorite and he said this is unbelievably close to Mayfield's.

I normally wouldn't make sweet tea for myself, but I've been sick for a little over a week now and I needed some hot tea for my sore throat.

Turkey Chili with Beans

Confession time: I have a problem. My problem is my appetite...coupled with cravings. I am seriously obsessed with food. In fact, right now while I'm typing up this post, I'm watching "Good Eats." I'm not really a bandwagon type person...I like to do my own thing and in my own way...but when everyone keeps talking about turkey chili...yeah, you best believe I am on that bandwagon.

Skillet Taco Macaroni

I cannot stress how delicious this recipe is...at all.
It sounds like nothing special, but do not doubt the epic flavor behind these everyday ingredients :)

Menu Plan Monday - 3.21.2011

Another Monday - I'm actually looking forward to Mondays now :]

Again, if you haven't been to orgjunkie.com/ you HAVE to check it out!! I'm about to buy her book Clutter Rehab because I have a lot of clutter and I need some rehab. I'll most likely blog about it on my own personal blog - feel free to follow me, I don't mind.

This week's menu includes:
Tuesday

• Breakfast: Bacon Cheese Pull-Aparts
• Lunch: broccoli and cheese rice and yogurt
• Dinner: Mexican Chicken

Wednesday

• Breakfast: cereal
• Lunch: chicken nuggets and fries
• Dinner: Tatortot Casserole

Thursday

• Breakfast: Baked Pumpkin Donuts
• Lunch: Leftovers or Wendys
• Dinner: Friendly's (Eat Out - we will be going into town this day - I haven't been into town in a while now)

Friday

• Breakfast: blueberry waffles
• Lunch: grilled cheese and applesauce
• Dinner: Crockpot Chili Dogs and chips

Saturday

• Breakfast: Caramel Biscuit Bites
• Lunch: pizza
• Dinner: Chicken Rolls and green beans

Sunday

• Breakfast: poptarts
• Lunch: mac and cheese and applesauce or yogurt
• Dinner: Pepperoni Pizza Twist and salad

Monday

• Breakfast: Glazed Raisin-Cinnamon Biscuits
• Lunch: hot dogs, chips and yogurt
• Dinner: Perfect Pancakes and scrambled eggs

Extras

• Chunky Brownie Cookies
• Copycat Wendy's Frosty

**Sunday Social**

Another kind of hectic week for me: I got sick on Tuesday and I'm almost feeling better today. I finished all my finals and I finally have a break until the beginning of April. I hope that everyone else had a good week :)

My favorite recipe from this week on Fantastical is definitely...

• Stuffed Peppers

Another week of a LOT of great recipes on foodie blogs!

• Rum Punch Cupcakes from Annie's Eats - I love rum-flavored anything and my husband is a huge fan, so I couldn't resist when I saw this recipe! And you can even do pineapple and a cherry on top! How perfect is that?
• Baked French Toast Sticks from One Crazy Cookie - French toast is one of my favorite breakfast foods and I love the stick version - amazingness :)
• Broccoli & Ham Frittata from Mommy Hates Cooking - I love frittatas and broccoli....and ham. Frittatas and quiches are delicious!
• Banana Split Dessert from I Heart Naptime - this looks like a moonpie and that in itself makes it a done deal for me. I cannot wait to try this recipe out!
• Potato, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Taquitos from Sing For Your Supper - Egg and cheese burritos are amazing and potatoes added in with scrambled eggs alone is epic. This is bound to be a really great breakfast recipe.
• Butterscotch Pudding with Carmelized Bananas and Cream from Joy the Baker - She used whiskey in this recipe...that's good enough for me :)
• Sour Cream Noodle Bake from Pioneer Woman - my husband probably wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole, since he hates sour cream and I still have half a deployment to make it and enjoy it while I can.
• Blueberry Cheesecake Bars from Baked Bree - I love cheesecake and I love blueberries...bars are pretty great too.
• BBQ Country Style Ribs from Mommy Hates Cooking - Ribs...seriously..RIBS.
• Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream from Tracey's Culinary Adventures - sounds yummy, right? And guess what! They are VEGAN.
• New Momma Take-in Tray from Mel's Kitchen Cafe - not so much a recipe, but a great idea that definitely needs to be shared with everyone!!

I hope you all check out these great recipes and have a good week too - I have some good recipes coming up this week!

Stuffed Peppers

This is probably one of my most favorite recipes in my arsenal. I always make the full recipe and then freeze half of the meat mixture and buy half the amount of bell peppers, so I have a cheap meal for some day in the future.

~Twisted Thursday - 3.17~

It's Twisted Thursday :] Happy St. Patty's Day!

So here's what to do...

It's YOUR turn to share one of your favorite recipes! Leave the title of your favorite recipe - along with your name and the website url.

You can also grab a button for your blog from the right hand side --->

Walking Tacos

This is adapted from Picky Palate's Walking Taco recipe.

Menu Plan Monday - Mar. 14

It's that time again :)

I encourage everyone to do a menu plan and then link up at orgjunkie.com/

Here's what we're having this week:

• Turkey Chili with Beans
• Leftovers (Stuffed Peppers, Cheesy CP Chicken and Turkey Chili)
• Spaghetti with Alice Jo's spaghetti sauce, Cheesy Garlic Pull Aparts and green beans
• Freezer meal - Mexican Chicken and Rice Dinner
• Leftovers (spaghetti and freezer meal)
• Skillet Taco Macaroni
• Breakfast Burritos

**Sunday Social**

Happy Sunday everyone, or maybe not so happy since we all lost an hour of sleep :( I hate DLS.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Now it's time to share some of my favorites of the week :]

I haven't posted much on Fantastical this week due to a very hectic schedule - 3 college courses, a couple things going wrong (cable bill hadn't been paid in 3 months because I got a new debit card in Dec. and my tags expired 2 weeks ago and I didn't realize it) and a little man turned 4 years old! So next week, I should be on top of things. But I still got two really great recipes up this week:

• Shamrock Shakes - St. Patty's Day is coming up this week and since I can't really drive my car with the expired tags (my stickers are going to my in laws and then will be sent up here...oh the joys of the military)...I can't really go to McD's and get one of their amazing Shamrock Shakes. I absolutely adore the people who replicate good restaurant recipes! It's also got options for lowfat or soy versions!
• Cherry Berry Cobbler - sounds delicious, right? Y'all will HAVE to try this one. It's so delicious! I ate the whole thing by myself, another joy of the military - no husband here, no family here, no friends here...so someone's gotta eat this food. I'm more than willing :)

 This week is FULL of amazing looking recipes all over the web:

• Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread on Joy the Baker - I don't even know how to explain this one. It looks incredible and makes my mouth water!
• Bacon Chicken Alfredo Pasta on Just Get Off Your Butt and BAKE! - I tried extra hard to find more non-sweets this week. Anything with bacon...and pasta...uh...YUM!
• Thin Mint Truffles on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen - There is one thing I know well: anything with Thin Mints will be exponentially better than anything without Thin Mints :]
• Olive Garden Breadsticks on Jamie Cooks It Up! - I don't like Olive Garden. I think its food is way overrated and overpriced. Except the breadsticks! The breadsticks are heaven!
• San Fransisco Chops {Slow Cooker} on Mel's Kitchen Cafe - I need some more good pork recipes and this one looks so savory! And being a slow cooker recipe only makes it that much more appealing!
• Banana Split Cupcakes on Annie's Eats - Oh my goodness gracious! They look so awesomely awesome! Banana cake, strawberry and pineapple filling, vanilla frosting, chocolate ganache and a cherry on top? YES PLEASE!!
• Easy Breakfast Burritos on Cooking with My Kid -This one looks very simple and has my favorite things: refried beans and cheese, in it :)

I hope you all check out these great foodie blogs and their recipes and I hope that you have a great week!!

Copycat Shamrock Shake

Just in time for Saint Patrick's Day - these are super simple and super delicious :)

Cherry Berry Cobbler

Sometimes I think that Betty Crocker is should be a saint. Whoever she may be :)

Fried Rice

Here is a versatile recipe - you can go with meatless, chicken, shrimp, pork or steak :)
My camera decided to eat some of the pictures so you'll have to excuse that part!

~Twisted Thursday~

Today I'm trying out something new - a linky party!

So here's what to do...
It's YOUR turn to share one of your favorite recipes! Include your name and the website url to the recipe that you want to share :) If you don't have a google account, please feel free to send me an email (fantasticalsharing@yahoo.com) or if you are on my FB - feel free to write on my wall :)

Cookie Salad

Picture Updated 12/13/2013  

This is a family recipe - my mom makes it very rarely. Pretty much only at Christmas time and it is my very very favorite dessert of all-time. It doesn't LOOK that appetizing, by looks are deceiving. It's very rich and very delicious. I just used very about 8 billion times :)

Pot Roast Complete

When my husband and I were first tossed into the adult world and fending for ourselves, I tried very unsuccessfully to make pot roast in the oven. When I got my first ever crockpot in December 2007, my mother-in-law (BLESS HER) said crockpot roasts were easy-peasy, hard to screw up and delicious. This recipe is the first recipe I found for crockpot roast and I used it religiously until a few months ago when I risked trying a new one. :)

Menu Plan Monday - Mar. 7

I've been trying to find link up parties on food blogs or even normal blogs for my everyday non-food blog like a crazy person lately.

This one seemed to be a really good idea: Menu Plan Monday on orgjunkie.com/

It actually works out perfectly for me because every Monday I do make a list of meals that I want to make this week and then grocery shop on Tuesday morning. Meal planning is a great way to save money and offer a variety of different foods.

So this week for dinner:

• Chicken Tenders Dinner
• Cheddar Broccoli Soup with Golden Onion Rolls
• Garlic Mashed Potato and Beef Bake
• Freezer Leftovers: Chicken and Pepper Pasta Bake and we will be having Red Velvet Cake for my son's 4th birthday :)
• Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) - Scrambled eggs with ham and peppers and Basic Breakfast Potatoes
• Stuffed Peppers
• Cheesy Crockpot Chicken over rice

Might I also add, this is a jackpot for me. I love to see what other people are making for dinner and finding new ideas and recipes! YUM :)

When choosing recipes for the week - I try to do 2 non-meat or 1 non-meat/1 seafood, a leftover day, 2 chicken and 2 ground beef. Sometimes I'll do pork or ham meals, but I don't have many of those recipes and my husband and kids are really big pork/ham fans. If we don't do a leftover day, we usually end up with one more chicken meal. I always try to serve a vegetable with meals, sometimes on Brinner nights we do a fruit with the meal instead of a vegetable.

*phew*
So that's about it for MPM...please go to orgjunkie.com/ - link up for MPM, check out her awesome organizing skills!! It's truly amazing and inspiring :)

**Sunday Social**

I'm trying to make the blog a little more interesting for you readers out there, so I have a bunch of new ideas to try on Fantastical :)

Starting with today! Today is going to be like Tidy Mom's I'm Lovin' It Wrap Up or Brown Eyed Baker's Weekend Dish. I want to share my favorite new dish I've tried this week and show what new blogs and recipes I have found online this week. I think spreading the word about other blogs is great :) I'm calling this day my Sunday Social!

Let's start out with my own favorites that I have posted on Fantastical this week:

• Peanut Butter Fudge!! I sent the majority of it to my deployed hubby, but seriously...PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE!! I honestly think it's the best type of fudge, hands-down.
• Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas (from Pioneer Woman) - I wish I could send these to my deployed husband because they are probably the best meal I have ever eaten. I LOVE fresh pineapple (especially grilled) and these were just perfect. Of course, I added my own touch - BACON!
• Pumpkin Devil's Food Cake. I love pumpkin. More than I love fresh pineapple. I also love chocolate, probably more than anything else in the world. So this was absolute heaven for me. Two ingredients! So incredibly easy and inexpensive!
• Too Easy Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole - say that 5 times fast! Okay so I may just be telling you that I love food period because I love broccoli a lot too! This was really simple and had lots of flavor!

I have over 50 foodie blogs that I am following through many different channels - through Blogger, through FB, through RSS feed and even through email! I am completely obsessed. So here are some of the things I have bookmarked, saved, written down, etc. from all my favorite foodie blogs this week:

• Cake Batter Cinnamon Rolls from How Sweet It Is - yeah...CAKE BATTER. Oh nom nom nom! I had to wipe the drool off of my keyboard!
• Pot of Gold Cupcakes from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen - perfect for your little leprechauns! Or for a St. Patrick's Day party. And you have to check out her Rango cupcakes! They are so adorable!
• Homemade Moon Pies from Brown Eyed Baker - did I mention that I like food? And chocolate? Yeah...I can obliterate a box of moon pies :)
• Fried Rice & Ham from Get off your Butt and BAKE! - Mmm. I'm on a fried rice kick lately. This just looks mouth-watering!!
• Devil Dogs from Pioneer Woman - at first glance, you think maybe it's some type of spicy hot dog, but it's actually a chocolately cake sandwich with frosting in between the layers and frosting on top with a cherry as the finishing touch!
• Homemade Tagalongs from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen - I have the exact same problem as Kristan, the girl scouts always skip over me for some reason and I want their cookies desperately. Thank God for foodies who make copycat recipes!!

Looking at that list makes me realize that I really do have a sweet tooth. I think the majority of recipes I find are sweets recipes :S

Anyways, that is what I'm going to start doing every Sunday :) I hope you all can find something new to make from my blog or any of the other awesome foodie blogs out there!

Monday will have a new blog activity as well called Menu Plan Monday, from orgjunkie.com/

On Thursday, instead of my normal Twisted Thursday, I'm going to try (key word) to host a linky party. We'll see how that goes. I want to find more new foodie blogs and I want to do something fun with my blog to include other foodie bloggers. And I'm hoping that this week's Thursday will go a little better because the past Twisted Thursdays have been giant fails :(  So if you are around on Thursday - PLEASE share one of your favorite recipes. If you don't have a food blog, that's completely fine, comment or email me your favorite recipe! :)

I believe that is all for today! *Phew* I feel sort of accomplished.

Ohh! And one big favor to ask any of you reading this - please pass the word to your friends about the blog! I really want to do giveaways but I don't think I'll be able to do that until activity really picks up on here and I have tons of readers. :) So pass the word, if needed use peer pressure! :)

Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes

Last week was actually the first time in over 2 years that I made these potatoes. They used to be made at least two times a week back before my husband's first deployment.

Delicious Pork & Noodles

Refried Bean Rollups

I classified these as a "copycat" recipe because I think they favor Taco Bell's bean burrito. They are a really quick, inexpensive, super yummy meal.

Too Easy Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole

Picture Updated 12/13/2013 

This recipe is very simple, but packed with lots of flavor and the kids gobbled it up, which is always a plus, right moms? :)

The Marlboro Man Sandwich via Pioneer Woman

Back to Pioneer Woman's awesome recipes again :)

Quickie Quiche

Pumpkin Devil's Food Cake

So easy, so delicious! What more can you ask for? Thank you to my friend Kyleigh who told me about this one! :)